Eyes turn to Grayscale Bitcoin Trust after FTX collapse; Cardano to launch fiat-backed stablecoin in 2023

The biggest news in the cryptoverse for Nov. 18 includes fears of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust being in trouble, Bahamas’ order for FTX to transfer its digital assets, and SafePal’s 125% spike as a result of the increasing popularity of non-custodial wallets. 

CryptoSlate Top Stories

Community fears FTX implosion might affect Grayscale

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares declined by 74% on the year-to-date metric and are being traded for around $8.75.  Its shares are selling at a record discount of 42.69%.

Upon this decline, the community ponders if Grayscale is in trouble following the FTX collapse. GBTC currently holds over 635,000 Bitcoins (BTC) and 3,1 million Ethereum (ETH). The total amount of these coins equates to $13.7 billion.

Bahamas watchdog ordered FTX to send digital assets to its wallet

On Nov. 18, Bahamas’ Securities and Commission admitted ordering FTX to transfer its digital assets to a wallet that belongs to the Commission.

Securities Commission of The Bahamas Assumes Control of Assets of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. pic.twitter.com/IzW4PGZSJm

— Securities Commission of The Bahamas (@SCBgov_bs) November 18, 2022

The commission announced this action via a media release, which it shared on its official Twitter account. The commission said that this was an attempt to safekeeping the assets and  “was necessary to protect the interests of clients and creditors.”

Binance-linked non-custodial wallet tokens see massive growth over the past week

Binance-backed non-custodial wallet provider SafePal’s native token SFP has increased by 125.96% in the last seven days, indicating that the FTX collapse started a “not your keys, not your coins” trend among the crypto community.

The SFP is being traded for $0.743 after increasing by 16.97% over the past 24 hours.

CertiK investigates KYC actors hired to scam the web3 community

DeFi-focused security platform CertiK’s investigation revealed the existence of professional KYC actors who specialize in bypassing KYC processes.

They are defined as individuals who trick KYC processes on crypto platforms to sneak in and gain the trust of the community before attempting to scam.

Canada’s largest pension fund writes off $95M FTX investment

In the previous weeks, Canada’s largest pension fund, Ontario Teachers revealed that they were one of the investors in the bankrupt exchange FTX, without mentioning the size of its investment.

On Nov. 17, the fund disclosed that it invested $95 million in FTX on two different occasions. Its first investment was in Oct. 2021 and was worth $75 million, while the second one was $20 million.

CryptoSlate Exclusive

Bitcoin owes its success in Nigeria to the unstoppable youth, says Paxful CEO

Peer-to-peer trading platform Paxful’s Co-Founder and CEO Ray Youssef talked to CryptoSlate and shared his opinions on extending a helping hand to those who got heavily affected by the broken money system.

Youssef’s first Bitcoin business focused on POS solutions until he met Paxful’s co-founder, Artur Schaback. Soon after they met, the duo took a trip to Africa, Nigeria, because that’s the place with the biggest hustlers.” In other words, Nigerians were among the ones who were heavily affected by the broken monetary system.

Paxful founders inserted Bitcoin into Nigeria to combat the main financial problems. Youssef said:

“The banks in Africa, especially Nigeria, they don’t allow people to send money in USD. They wanna hold onto that hard currency for themselves. So what is a small and humble entrepreneur to do?”

Youssef also admitted that the Nigerian youth expressed high enthusiasm towards Bitcoin and became the driving force behind its adoption.

KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu confirms exchange ‘fully liquid,’ talks regulation and the future of DeFi – SlateCast #31

KuCoin’s CEO Johnny Lyu met with Akiba from CryptoSlate to discuss the recent events in the market, and ensure that KuCoin remains liquid.

Lyu emphasized the effects of the FTX collapse on the industry and said that everyone is willing to put this behind us. He said:

“Institutions and exchanges are all willing to extend a helping hand for this crisis to go away as soon as possible so everything can return to normality again.”

Regarding the current financial situation of KuCoin, Lyu stated that he can confidently confirm that KuCoin is fully liquid. According to Lyu, KuCoin is also publishing its asset status right now, and collaborating with third-party auditors to offer further transparency and trust.

News from around the Cryptoverse

Ripple applies for a license in Ireland

Ripple (XRP) decided to expand into Europe and is applying for a regulatory license from Irish financial watchdogs to facilitate its spread into the continent, as reported by CNBC.

First fiat-backed stablecoin will enter the market in 2023

Cardano (ADA) blockchain is planning to launch USDA as the first fiat currency-backed, regulatory-compliant stablecoin in the crypto market, according to CoinDesk.  The USDA is expected to enter the markets in early 2023.

Multicoin expects further contagion following the FTX collapse

Multicoin Capital stated in a company letter that it expected “many trading firms will be wiped out and shut down, which will put pressure on liquidity and volume throughout the crypto ecosystem” as a result of the FTX fallout, according to IBC Group CEO Mario Nawfal’s Tweet.

Crypto Market

In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 0.33%  to trade at $16,636, while Ethereum (ETH) increased by 0.6% to trade at $1,209.

Biggest Gainers (24h)

Biggest Losers (24h)